Farewell Hope: The Hogtying of
the Deaniacsby Joshua Frank
www.dissidentvoice.org
February 20, 2005

“Don't
say unconscious
No don't say doom
If you got to say it
Let me leave this room”

--
Television, “See
No Evil”

The
Democrats have finally accomplished something. Yes, I’m talking about Howard
Dean’s latest victory, but it’s not what you think. Dean’s scoring of the
DNC chair isn’t a win for progressives. Nope, it’s a triumph for the
establishment. The Beltway savants have successfully muted the only vibrant
contingent within their frail party. The Deaniacs have been corralled.

Howard Dean’s new post
has been hailed by many as a huge feat for the progressive wing of the
Democratic Party (yeah, what “progressive” wing?). But it is no feat. Not
only is Howard Dean a
centrist in the most disgusting Clintonesque sense of the term, but his
victory this past weekend to head the DNC is also a shot in the head of his
passionate supporters. He has sold them out, while taking on the roll of
insider, where his new symbolic post within the party will do little more to
challenge Democratic policy than, say, MoveOn’s irritating phone calls to
Congress.

We should have seen it
coming. Right after Joe Trippi left Dean’s presidential campaign last year,
the good doctor moved quickly to replace him with DC insider Roy Neel. Neel,
who talked Al Gore out of actively contesting the 2000 election, was
a long-time telecom lobbyist who employed his
status with the Clinton Administration to maneuver the atrocious
Telecommunications Act through Congress in 1996 -- perhaps the greatest
corporate handout of the Clinton years.

It was a
sign of what was to come when only months later Howard Dean jumped into the
ring with presidential candidate Ralph Nader, hoping to entice his dizzied
Deaniacs into not fleeing the Democrats’ pro-war ticket. Although Nader’s
peaceful embrace was more in line with their anti-war principles, the 2004
elections were simply not the time to stand up for what they believed in. Or
so claimed Howard Dean.

The ex-governor was
attempting to cover his own ass, hoping to embolden his clout within the
party. Old Howard even went as far as to call John Kerry a “progressive” in
his debate with Mr. Nader. It was a disgusting display of political myopia.
Dean sold out his loyal followers that moment. He told the very people that
were responsible for his success to go ahead and piss their ideals into the
political winds of Washington. The Iraq war wasn’t the issue; Dean’s own
gluttonous motivations were.

Nevertheless Howard Dean seems to be riding high, like Bing Crosby in that
awful Frank Capra flick. But don’t believe the hype. Dean’s new job is an
administrative boondoggle. The dry Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has
more influence over Democratic policy than Dean ever will. Believe it.

The
party bigwigs are surely thrilled. Especially if Dean can fill their
campaign coffers with a surplus of grassroots cash.

Hold on.
Don’t kid yourself, though. This certainly doesn’t mean Dean won’t continue
to hobnob with the corporate fat cats like his filthy predecessors. And
don’t count on Deano to disclose campaign finances either. Just look at
Vermont where his boys gutted the only law that called for even the
slightest transparency in the state’s public elections.

No, this
whole DNC thing smells of rot. Let’s hope that the Deaniacs (the few not
having multiple orgasms over this “success”) break ranks and hang Howard
Dean and the Democrats out to dry like a pair of stanky old socks. That’s
the only way victory could ever come out of this calamity.